One quick word of advise!! never buy a no name cheap DVDs they just don't cut it. The DVD-Rs are so cheap these days that they are actually are giving them away.
I have always been using Maxell and Memorex and never had a coster with either one. As far as the speed that just depends on your burner I use 16X. :D

I know this is a very debatable question but I just want to know straight up......What brand and speed of DVD-R is the best for video recording?

You're probably not going to get a lot of takers on this topic because DVD media brands and reliability is a very subjective issue. Everyone will have their there own opinion.

Case in point, the poster above me mentioned that they use Memorex and has never made a coaster. For me on the other hand they are nothing but problems and I will never use them again. Instead I went to Verbatim and Philips and "I" have never had a coaster. Everyone will have their own story.

It all comes down to preferences, configurations and hardware which adds up to a lot of different variables. Youre probably better off doing a Google search to see if you can find some kind of scientific study or a bench-test study on all of the various medias out there.

From the non-subjective point of view... TDK DVD-Rs(printables) are garbage. I had to return 2 50 packs and one 100 pack. If you looked closely at the write surface, a visible line existed part way into the write area, just outside the hub. It has the same appearance as an area already written!!!! The last time I bought them, I opened the pack before leaving the store's parking lot. All were bad. I went back to the store and had a very productive discussion with management.
From the totally subjective and experienced department... Memorex has been 100% good. When I feed the 7 bay duplicator, it's only allergic to TDK DVD-R Printables. Maxells are good. I ussually burn +Rs, with -Rs for customers with older decks. About 99% of the duplication is +R now, soon to be 100%. Maybe it's the brand of equipment, but my success rate with +Rs is near 100% in office, and in the past 3 years only one disc was returned as faulty.( it was a customer's player issue) My policy is to make a few extra copies for the client to cover any issues or "lost in the snail mail".
DVD authoring and duplication is not yet a true and perfect science. It does have moments of real frustration, but thank goodess for forums and the internet.

I agree with compusolver - there are many factors that can effect the production of a DVD or a coaster.
First of all the disc brand can have an effect, so too can thae batch it was created from - not all DVDs from the same manufacturer are the same.
The dye batch from the manufacturers supplier can vary too,
The speed in which you burn can effect them too. I had one DVD I made that would only burn true if done at .. wait for it.... 1 x speed ----ohh that one hurt. Yep a 66 min DVD x 30 copies ,,,boring.
Also found out that your power can also effect the computer too.
In OZ we are 240 volt. Where I live it can vary from 200 - 260 depending on the day of the week and the time of day. We are rural and we have pumps to supply water to the house and irrigate the gardens. The pump starting has caused problems too. The voltage shift spikes the processor and some functions lock up. This can cause a coaster too. Many people blame Windows for the frozen mouse or non responsive program - most of the time its a voltage spike.
I have overcome the voltage problem by using a UPS with constant voltage out. It is interesting to watch the software voltage monitors. The input voltage is all over the place and the output voltage is a nice constant 240 volt.
Any way, try different discs. Find one you are comfortable with and stick with it.
May you have many DVD,s and no coasters

A UPS is highly reccommended. I live way out in the country with a well that pulls some serious amps. Today was wild with serious thunderstorms, light blinking, windows shaking- the whole bit. I was authoring a 4 DVD seminar, and during the whole time the UPS was shifting power. Not one bit of data was lost. Surge protectors won't help if the voltage drops, only if it spikes well above 120 volts.

I came onto the forum last week searching for DVD problems not playing back properly and received advice on which DVD to purchase. I purchased Taiyo Yuden Premium Line 8X DVD-R media 4.7GB. The feed back said that the Taiyo Yuden was a great brand and had no problems. I burnt a video to a disk on the computer and it will not play back on my DVD player on the TV. Am I doing something wrong? Do you have to finalize these disks? The other disk I use the burning program automatically does it.

It all comes down to preferences, configurations and hardware which adds up to a lot of different variables. Youre probably better off doing a Google search to see if you can find some kind of scientific study or a bench-test study on all of the various medias out there.

This looks like a common theme in this thread and I agree. Different CD-Rs work better with different hardware configurations. Personally, I like Verbatim and Memorex, but everyone is different. I agree with the post who said to pick one that you like and stick with it.